Cat Wrastling Part 2

I think there may be something wrong with our cat.

Mike crawls all over her, lays on her and tackles her on a regular basis and she just accepts it as part of life and generally doesn't even try to get away. It is almost as if she likes it. Weird, weird cat.

Monday Picture

Things to Remember

As a shower gift we received two little snack cups with plastic lids that you can reach into to get the snacks out, but if you turn them upside down whatever is inside will not fall out. Genius right? Well, it would be genius except for the fact that the first time we gave it to Mike, he grabbed the lid, held down one of the little petals and turned it upside down so the snacks fell out, then happily collected his puffs.

Haircut

Last night an impromptu snip snip resulted in a big milestone...Mike's first haircut. He was starting to look pretty shaggy and a few of our friends had commented that he was starting to look like a little homeless person so out came the scissors. Brad was the brave soul who wielded the scissors (he was too wiggly for me and I was afraid I was going to cut his ear). It wasn't a full fledged haircut just a little trim around the ears and neck. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the actual event but here is the finished product.

Big Boy

Mike has graduated from his infant car seat into a "big boy" car seat. This my friends is 21 pounds of plastic, steel and EPS foam. My how fast he is growing.

Hammer Pants

As a tribute to MC Hammer, here is Mike in his very own "hammer" pants

Update on my Dad

Thanks to everyone for their concern and warm comments about my dad. He is still in the hospital and we still aren't 100% sure what is wrong. He has had a bunch of tests over the past few days but nothing has been conclusive. We are waiting to hear back from pathology about some samples that they took. Once we receive those results we should have a better idea of what is going on. In the meantime, please keep him in your thoughts and I will keep you posted of any significant changes.

Double Doh

Poor Mike had double accidents yesterday. At daycare, while crawling, he fell over and bumped his head (on the floor I think). The fall resulted in a small bruise with accompanying goose egg on his forehead. When he got home, he was crawling across the tile floor, tried to pull himself up on a corner and face planted into the corner instead, resulting in a much bigger bruise and goose egg. So now my poor baby has a ginormous goose egg and two lovely bruises on his little forehead. Poor guy.

Good Day Gone Bad

Today was supposed to be a great day. Fantastic even. Let me explain. At work, our annual United Way campaign is in full swing. Peabody is really good at sucking the money right out of you with auctions, jeans days, prizes and a wii bowling tournament. My boss and I formed a team for bowling and today was our first practice in "Ten Pin Alley" and our first match. The practice was set for 10am and the match for 1pm. We also planned a baby shower for one of the guys I work with with gifts at 11:15, lunch from 11:30 to 1 and cupcakes afterwards. So if you are following work was going to involve bowling, going out to lunch and cupcakes today. Now maybe your job is cooler than mine, but in my book that is a pretty kick-ass day of work. So to make the story more interesting I'll tell you that all of those things did indeed happen and I did get to participate in all of them. So why was today not so great? Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you...just kidding. Read on...


I called my dad this morning as I was driving to work. This isn't really out of the ordinary. I hadn't talked to him in a few days and I just wanted to see how he was doing. When I called, my mom answered. Which is a little weird because she usually sleeps in, but school started for her yesterday so I didn't think much of it. Once I asked her how things were going was when my day quickly went into a downward spiral. Apparently my dad had been having some medical issues over night and they were heading to the emergency room "as soon as my mom finished her toast." My first thought...WHUCK??!?!? Dad is agreeing to go to the ER and you are finishing your toast? See, my dad NEVER wants to go to the doctor (and even that is an understatement). His arm could be falling off (O-F-F, off) and he would claim he didn't need to go. So the fact that he was willing to go immediately started the alarms in my head and I can honestly say I heard "do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to the ER." So after a few hours I get an update from my mom who tells me that they have decided my dad needs to be transferred to a hospital in Salt Lake City via ambulance, and the doctors at Evanston Regional Hospital aren't really sure what is wrong. Can we say scary? So my dad was wisked away to University Hospital for tests and observation. Still not sure what is going on. But that is why my super fantastic day is not being so super fantastic at all.

Exercise

Mike realizes the importance of daily exercise.

Monday Picture

Like Father Like Son

Yep, he is sucking on a lemon. You know who else likes to eat lemons for fun? Brad.

Weekend Adventure

Brad finally had a full weekend off and we decided it was high time for a little get away. I did some research and found some potentially cool hikes in southern Illinois, so we packed up Mike and Sam and were on our way. On the drive down I learned some pretty interesting things about Brad. First, after half a cup of coffee he does not shut up. He flies seamlessly from one topic to the next and is quite the accomplished chatterbox. Second, he will belt out Come Sail Away (complete with vibrato) given the right circumstances. Third if you ever want an extremely long explanation about a simple concept ask him about which hand he holds his coffee in. Our first stop was at Ferne Clyffe State Park. We did a short hike to some bluffs then spent an hour driving around trying to find a very illusive waterfall. We never did find the waterfall, but we did see a number of wild turkeys, a deer and we argued about whether or not my car could make it through the water crossing we encountered (it did). After Ferne Clyffe, we headed to Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest.

Mike ready to go!

Brad and Mike

Hiking

Inside the first bluff

The second bluff

Walking along the shore of the lake

There were butterflies EVERYWHERE

This picture makes me laugh because Brad was running along side Sammy holding the camera at her level while he took it.

Turkeys

At Garden of the Gods

Family Picture!

After a long day of hiking, we decided to let Mike drive us home

FAIL

Apparently a few people found it a little disturbing that I let Mike play in the dog's water dish. They thought it was gross. In my defense, I had scrubbed out the water bowl immediately before letting him play in it and filled it with nice fresh water. Apparently, that is still gross. Whatever. It brings him great joy, and it's just a little dog slobber. Anyway...onto my story. So tonight as I was fixing dinner, Mike kept making a beeline for the water dish. I decided I would give him his own little bowl of water to play in (one that didn't have any dog slobber in it). I dug through the tupperware cupboard and found a medium size bowl with a flat bottom that I thought would be hard for him to tip over. Boy was I wrong. I put a few inches of water in the bottom, set it on the floor next him and turned back to the stove. The next thing I knew I was standing in a puddle of water. It turns out I was 100% wrong and Mike was able to VERY easily tip the bowl over and pour all the water out. This parenting thing is totally a learn as you go type of job isn't it? Bottom line...my kid will probably continue to play in the dog's water bowl until he finds something better because at least he can't tip it over...yet.

Monday Picture

Sizing

I bought Mike a super cute onesie the other day that has Snoopy laying on top of his doghouse (which is green) and the phrase "Think Green" on it. The size indicated that it was for babies 6-12 months. As Mike is just about smack-dab in the middle of that range (and it was on sale) I quickly bought it, brought it home and washed it. The problems began when I tried to put it on him. It turns out that I misunderstood the sizing. What it really meant was "this piece of clothing will fit babies who are 6 months fat and 12 months long." Basically once I was finally able to squeeze Mike into it he looked like a little sausage in an extra long casing.

Mmmmmm, Sweet Potatoes

Melting

Dear Saint Louis,

I kind of hate you right now with your super hot temperatures, your muggy-ness and your "extreme heat advisory." As if a normal heat advisory weren't enough, you give us extreme heat advisories. And another thing, you can take your "heat index" and suck it. I didn't even know what a heat index was until I moved here. Wind chill, now that I can wrap my head around, heat index...yuck!!! Please send winter soon (or at the very least fall). I need a break from constantly sweating and my air conditioner needs a little break or it may go on strike and then no one will be happy. Please take my rants into consideration because I don't want to see this ever again when I am driving home from work:

Yours,

Erin

How to Wrastle a Cat

Step 1: Find an unsuspecting Cat...

Step 2: Grab said cat and hold on tight...

Step3: Show your mad skills and lay on top of the cat...

Step 4: Once the cat has been successfully subdued, move onto your next target...the dog...

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, I only had my phone handy.

Monday Picture

I couldn't decide which one I liked the best so I posted them all. Hope you don't mind!

Lessons

Mike learned an important life lesson today...

Bananas are slippery.

Things I Hope I Never Forget

Mike is at an age where you can literally watch him learn to do new things every single day. His little body is just getting stronger and smarter every minute. It takes my breath away to watch him learn and grow. Since he changes so much it is easy to forget little things that he does (or used to do). I really hope that these little things don't get lost in the shuffle and that I will think of them years from now and my heart will be warmed.

With his new found mobility, he seems to love being able to get around and explore on his own. One of his favorite new pastimes is to crawl to the front window, pull himself up and watch whatever is going on outside. He will bang his little hands on the window whenever someone walks by, or a car drives by, or really when anything happens (and sometimes just because he likes to bang on the window). He will periodically turn around, look at me and give me a big smile as if to say "look at me mama, this is fun!!!"

Generally on his way to the window, or when he is finished at the window, he will "explore" the vent directly below the window. He will bang on it with his little hand, yell into it (I think he likes the echo) and giggle when the cold air blows on his face fluffing his hair up in the front.

FAIL

Parenting Fail of the Week:

Why yes, that is a dog bone my child is chewing on. Can I redeem myself at least a little bit with the fact that there is a baby gate behind him (see, I can be a responsible, child-proofing, parent too), please disregard the fact that the baby gate is still in the box ;)

10 Things that Make my Heart Flutter

1) When I'm holding Mike and he lays his little head on my chest and relaxes for a minute

2) Carseats in trucks (seriously what is cuter??)

3) Getting a package in the mail.

4) When Brad suggests we take Mike with us instead of getting a babysitter (for things like our anniversary dinner)

5) Cupcakes

6) New seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Chuck and Dexter

7) Getting off the airplane when someone is waiting for you at the airport.

8) When I walk into a room and Mike only wants me no matter who else is around

9) Sammy meeting us at the door every single time we come home from anywhere

10) Brad

Monday Picture